Overcoming Relationship Power Struggles

Sounds like politics doesn’t it? Well, power struggles are the creature that’s eating most marriages and relationships alive today. Regardless of whether you are looking at a relationship, a business or running a country, if a power struggle exists among members – progress suffers. Okay, lets try to paint a vivid and maybe slightly exaggerated analogy of this. Lets say we have a couple trying to go for a nice little road trip for their vacation, which they both agree on. But somehow, they both don’t seem to be comfortable with letting the other drive. What do you suppose will happen to the nice little road trip? Well, “what road trip?” Bottom line, no progress. Now supposing that “road trip” was a relationship…? Ah, you get the picture.

Traditionally a man was expected to be at the helm of a relationship. The woman’s hands were usually tied up taking care of her husband and the family. So a man had to “find some use” for his two hands anyways, because the woman was pretty much overloaded. Now, I doubt that this set up had as much to do with power, than it had to do with the survival of the family, which is the “road trip” in this case. It had to do with survival and love! A real man would rather face adversity first than see the ones he loves suffer before his eyes. Now does that mean a woman cannot face adversity to shield the ones she loves? Not in the least! But I would be the one of many to reprove the man who lets her go out first before him to face adversity, for he brings disgrace to men. The question about who is in power should never be part of the concept of a relationship. To think like that only assumes that the other member has no power, and that’s what begins the power struggle. So, if you want your relationship to survive, forget the power and think about the shared objective, “the road trip” and how you can contribute something to make it a pleasant one.